FAMU coach Alex Wood unfazed by heavy road schedule

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- First-year Florida A&M football coach Alex Wood didn’t plan this year’s football schedule, but he plans to make the most of it.

The Rattlers — who finished last season 3-9 and enter this season with an almost entirely-new coaching staff — start the season Sept. 5 against South Florida in Tampa and don’t return home until Sept. 26 against Tennessee State. FAMU hits the road again for a game against Savannah State, then starts a three-game home stand, beginning Oct. 10 with North Carolina Central.

In total, seven of the Rattlers 11 games are away from home, including the neutral-site Florida Classic against Bethune-Cookman at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

“You just make sure you win those games,” Wood said.



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2015 FAMU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 5 at University of South Florida+                Tampa, Fla.

Sept. 12 at Samford University**                          Birmingham, Ala.

Sept. 19 at South Carolina State* Orangeburg, S.C.

SEPT. 26 TENNESSEE STATE++     HOME

Oct. 3 at Savannah State* Savannah, Ga.

OCT. 10 NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL*     HOME

OCT. 17 DELAWARE STATE *      HOME

OCT. 31 NORTH CAROLINA A&T*       HOME

Nov. 7 at Hampton University* Hampton, Va.

Nov. 14 at Morgan State University* Baltimore, Md.

Nov. 21 Bethune-Cookman * Orlando, Fla. (Florida Blue/Florida Classic)

*Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Games
+ American Athletic Conference

 **Southern Conference
++Ohio Valley Conference 

Southern baseball team responds to a ‘softer’ Roger Cador

Coach Roger Cador

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The Southern baseball team takes a four-game win streak into its series at Prairie View, beginning with a doubleheader at noon Friday.

The Jaguars were searching for answers barely a week ago when outfielder Tyler Kirksey stuck his head into coach Roger Cador’s office.

Cador told Kirksey he didn’t have time to talk because he had to get to “an important meeting.”

But Kirksey persisted.

“He said, ‘I need to talk,’ ” Cador recalled.

So Cador delayed his meeting and listened to what was on Kirksey’s mind — as well as that of his fellow upperclassmen.

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Alabama A&M's former football star Stanford Chance Wilson passes at age 25

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Alumni and football star Stanford Chance Wilson died at the age of 25. He attended the university from 2009 to 2012. A kicker and punter for the Bulldogs football team, he set an A&M record with a 49-yard field goal, was named preseason All-SWAC 2nd Team Specialist and won the Phillip Steele All-SWAC 2nd team Specialist award.

He later started his own bail bonding company, Empire Bail Bond Co. Inc.

Wilson's funeral was Wednesday. Read his obituary here.

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Alabama A&M asks for prayers, support following week of tragedy

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- This past week has been a difficult one for Alabama A&M University. The students and faculty have been hit with not one, but three tragedies.

AAMU President Andrew Hugine Jr. said they will "prayerfully cope" with these events that have "impacted members of our immediate and extended university family." In a statement released Thursday, Hugine asked that the community continue to support and pray for Alabama A&M, which has "had to deal with three distinct tragedies, one of which received national attention."

This refers to last Saturday's spring break shooting at a Panama City Beach house party. Three of the seven victims were Alabama A&M students. An update on Wednesday revealed that Kearria Freed, Annesia Powell and Kelli Curry are showing signs of improvement. They still have a long road of recovery ahead. Freed and Powell remain hospitalized and in physical therapy. Freed was the shot in the head and suffered the most serious injuries. Her movements have been very restricted since but are improving, officials say.

"We are pleased that the young ladies are showing optimism and resilience," Hugine said. "To rally further support for the victims, we organized an effective candlelight vigil on Monday, March 30, where hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community supporters gathered and even offered financial assistance. We also have engaged our counseling personnel to provide services as needed to students and other members of the University family."



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2015 VUU Football Schedule Announced

RICHMOND, Virginia  -- The Virginia Union University Athletic Department has released it's 2015 Football Schedule. 

The nine-game schedule includes four home games and five away games; in Boiling Spring, N.C., vs. Gardner-Webb, in Raleigh, N.C., vs. Shaw, in Pennsylvania vs. Lincoln, in Bowie, Md., vs. Bowie State and Interstate 95 rival Virginia State.

"We are in negotiations for a tenth game, but the quick turnaround under first-year coach Mark James has created a challenge in acquiring that 10th game," said VUU Athletic Director Joe Taylor.

Homecoming is set for October 17 against Chowan University.



2015 VUU Panthers Football Schedule

DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME
SEPT. 5 BREVARD HOVEY FIELD 1:00 P.M.
SEPT. 12 OPEN TBA TBA
Sept. 19 at Gardner-Webb Boiling Springs, NC 6:00 p.m.
SEPT. 26 JOHNSON C. SMITH* HOVEY FIELD 1:00 P.M.
Oct. 3 at Shaw* Raleigh, NC 1:00 p.m.
OCT. 10 at Lincoln (PA)* Lincoln University, PA 1:00 p.m.
OCT. 17 CHOWAN* HOVEY FIELD 1:00 p.m.
HOMECOMING 2015
Oct. 24 at Bowie State* Bowie, MD 1:00 p.m.
OCT. 31 ELIZABETH CITY STATE* HOVEY FIELD 1:00 p.m.
Nov. 7 at Virginia State* Petersburg, VA 2:00 p.m.
NOV. 14 CIAA CHAMPIONSHIP TBA TBA
* CIAA GAME


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Alcorn opens spring football

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NATCHEZ, Mississippi — For Alcorn State head coach Jay Hopson, turning something negative into something positive is always important. So turning multiple injuries in 2014 into multiple returners in 2015 in the form of medical redshirts certainly makes the spring more enjoyable for Hopson.

As the Alcorn State Braves revved up spring practice Tuesday afternoon, Hopson looked around and saw many players taking on starter roles that weren’t starters last season. Most of those players, however, have previous experience but missed last season because of an injury.

“Offensively, we’ve got pretty much everybody back,” Hopson said. “And for the guys we lost, we have some experienced players filling in for them. For instance, we lost running back Anthony Williams, but we have Joe (Price) back.  Last year, we had four or five injuries before August, so we had to redshirt those guys.  But it’s been a good thing now, because now, they’re back. We have a lot of guys that have played a lot.”

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Texas Southern Athletics Move to New Domain: tsusports.com

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